How persuasive is eyewitness confidence? Are highly confident eyewitnesses so persuasive that their testimony overshadows other countervailing evidence? To answer these questions, participants evaluated a highly confident eyewitness’s lineup identification. Participants learned that an eyewitness either quickly identified the suspect (e.g., “I’m sure it’s him. I identified him instantly.”), slowly identified the suspect (e.g., “I’m sure it’s him. I identified him after a while.”) or they learned nothing about the eyewitness’s identification time (e.g., “I’m sure it’s him.”). Highly confident eyewitnesses who make a relatively slow identification are perceived as less accurate and suspects are regarded as less likely to be guilty as compared to when eyewitnesses make a fast identification or even when no information is provided about identification speed. Identification speed appears to be one of the few variables that can cause people to regard with skepticism the testimony of highly confident eyewitnesses.

目击者的信心有多大说服力？高度自信的目击者是否具有说服力，以至于他们的证词盖过了其他反补贴证据？为了回答这些问题，参与者评估了一位高度自信的目击者的阵容识别。参与者了解到，目击者要么快速识别出嫌疑人（例如，“我确定是他。我立即认出了他。”），慢慢地确定了嫌疑人（例如，“我确定是他。我在一段时间后认出了他。”） .”）或者他们对目击者的身份识别时间一无所知（例如，“我确定是他。”）。与目击者快速识别或什至没有提供关于识别速度的信息相比，高度自信的目击者识别速度相对较慢，被认为不太准确，嫌疑人被认为不太可能有罪。识别速度似乎是少数几个可能导致人们对高度自信的目击者的证词持怀疑态度的变量之一。